The State Administration Council (SAC) leveled new charges against two journalists detained in Yangon's notorious Insein Prison.

Last Friday, SAC charged Sithu Aung Myint with Article 505 (b) under Burma's Penal Code, which outlaws speech that could "cause fear or alarm in the public".

The news reporter has already been charged with incitement under Article 505 (a) and Article 124, the latter of which has been withdrawn.

On the same day, freelance journalist Htet Htet, also charged with Article 505 (a), was handed an additional charge of Article 17/1 for communicating with an unlawful association.

"Police at Pazutawng station opened a case against Sithu Aung Myin, but it has not yet been brought to court," his lawyer Khin Maung Myint told NMG.

Htet Htet Khine has been charged with Article 17/1 in the Mingala Taung Nyunt Township Court, the lawyer said.

Sithu Aung Myint, who works for Frontier Myanmar and Voice of America, was arrested in Yangon in the third week of August.

Authorities charged Htet Htet Khine with Article 17/1 for working as a volunteer editor for Federal FM Radio, which pro-democracy activists founded after the regime threatened to shut down the Internet.

According to Detained Journalists Information Myanmar, 97 journalists were arrested in Burma between February 1 and September 7.